The tension and excitement surrounding the current election can be compared to the high school clique drama portrayed in many chick flicks. Everyone will do anything to get to the top and win the ultimate title: President of the United States.

The problem is that campaigns and political reporting focus too much on personal scandal and fighting which distorts the information voters need to make an informed decision in elections.

This problem is not new. Since the nation’s earliest days, candidate scandals have threatened the images of campaigns and distorted the final results of elections. But, in present day politics, even credible news outlets strive to uncover candidates’ personal scandals. This has led to a transformation of how the country conducts campaigns and debates.

Presidential nominees use these scandals against their competitors. Debates, once a platform for political leaders to voice their opinions on national issues, have now turned into a blame game to see who ends up on top.

Recently, the focus of presidential elections has strayed from relevant issues and instead, centered around criticizing opposing candidates to gain more supporters. Donald Trump accuses Hillary Clinton for looking “non-presidential” and Hillary claims Trump is a “bumbling businessman” who is ill-equipped to run the country. When people turn on the television or browse a news website, most of what is broadcast features drama between candidates rather than the candidate’s stance on relevant issues.

Voters want to know each candidate’s agenda and what they hope to do to address domestic and global issues. The more recent chaotic and unmonitored debates where candidates constantly throw fire at each other aren’t helpful in convincing citizens to vote for a certain nominee. The scandals blur the truth and it’s hard for voters to decide who to believe when everything that comes out of nominees’ mouths is biased and intended to put the other person in an unfavorable light.

It’s inevitable that the media is going to report on scandals and publicize it so people know the truth about a candidate. Living in a generation where news spreads like wildfire via social media only encourages more personal scandals.

However, there needs to be more emphasis on critical issues and solutions and less talk about the personal lives of politicians.

Usually when candidates are mentioned, the first few things that come to mind are about something bad they did and what other candidates had to say about it. When people who don’t follow politics as closely as others are questioned about candidates’ political agendas, not much is known because most of the news being spread is about events that provoke drama.

While it’s important for future voters to know the kind of person each candidate is by reading up on their personal life and the morals that they hold, it’s of more importance to give attention to the real matters at hand like poverty, global health, the economy, and immigration, just to give a few examples.

Read the news outlets that provide essential facts and not just the click bait that attracts attention and causes a scene.  When discussing politics, focus on the issues and not the drama.  Neither candidate should win because they’ve amassed the biggest social clique.